'Dancing With the Stars': Derek Hough Shrugs off Engagement Pressure Amid Lengthy Relationship

10/05/2021 05:57 pm EDT

Derek Hough is laughing off any pressure to propose to longtime girlfriend Hayley Erbert. The Dancing With the Stars judge recently poked fun at the comments he gets to pop the question to his fellow dances with a video in which he pretends to ask Shania Twain to marry him mid-dance. He quipped in the caption, "Marriage? People keep asking me when I'm gonna propose to [Hayley Erbert] but the truth is I'm already married. To [Shania Twain]."

"Yep! And I've been trying to get ahold of her to sign papers for a while now," he continued. "I really thought she was the one but you know things change, people change. So if you see this 'ShanShan' please return my calls... Even though it didn't work out, I'll always hold a special place for you in my heart." Despite the clear message Hough was sending, some fans still made sure to weigh in on his proposal plans in the comments.

"Saw your show last night...put a ring on her already!" one person commented, as another chimed in, "Derek it's time to ask Hayley." Others defended the dancer, with a follower writing, "No rush to marriage! Just keep doing you guys! Ya'll are beautiful. Enjoy life! Enjoy each other!" Another echoed, "Love it that you are having a poke as those fans who meddle in your love life."

Hough and Erbert met on Dancing With the Stars in 2015 and were romantically linked that same year. In October 2020, Hough told Entertainment Tonight he had no intentions of proposing on DWTS, despite the show having special significance to them as a couple. "I'm just going to be straight up, that's not happening," he said when asked about an on-air proposal. "Just because, that's just not my style I don't think, you know?"

That doesn't mean marriage isn't in the future. "It's a very common question we get asked," Hough said the same month on Tamron Hall's daytime show. "And so we just kind of laugh about it and carry on." Reflecting on spending quarantine together, Hough said spending so much time isolated made them grow closer together. "Yeah, I think the future definitely has been on our mind, in many different ways. So we'll see. It's all going in the right direction," he noted.

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